2018 Perfect Pool Guy Contest - Vote For Steve

Voting is now closed - I have been selected as 1 of 5 finalists - Winner to be announced October 12, 2018

Thank you for everyone who nominated and voted for me!

Every year since 2007 Pleatco has been running the Perfect Pool Guy / Gal Contest to recognize exceptional people within the pool and spa industry. This award is intended to honor men and women of the pool and spa service industry who deserve recognition for their dedication and passion for their work.

While this award started as a light hearted and fun idea, it has since grown into being one of the most prestigious awards one can receive for working on pools and spas. Hundreds of people have been nominated over the years, and nearly 50,000 people have voted to choose the "perfect pool guy / gal" in the past. This year, in 2018, I am asking my readers to nominate me - Swimming Pool Steve.

How I First Started Working On Pools

I started in the pool industry helping to measure liners in 1991. My uncle was short on helpers one day and tossed a tape measurer to me and told me to get into his truck. He did not really ask, so much as he told, but with him standing at 6' 6" and 300+ pounds of short temper, 12 year old me had absolutely nothing to say in retort other than "OK". As I jumped into the cab of his truck I noticed dozens of cork and rubber gaskets hanging from the rear view mirror and draped over the stick shift. I had no idea what they were for but that memory still sticks with me to this day. I can still smell the sour funk of a thousand smashed cigarette butts but even more vivid than this is the smell of fresh vinyl. Despite that I went on to install hundreds, possibly thousands of liners, the smell of fresh vinyl always takes me back to those first days with Uncle Joe and I measuring and installing liners. I had no idea what I was agreeing to when I jumped into his service truck that day.

I often joke about if I had known that I was penning a lifelong contract for being a slave to swimming pools that I would have run away screaming that day! Truth be told, even though my career did not turn out the way that I thought it would, I would not trade that day, or this experience, for anything. In a literal sense my life is defined by swimming pools and I have spent the entirety of my adult existence working on, studying and learning about swimming pools. I have no idea who or what I would be if I were not Swimming Pool Steve.

After working on vinyl pools for more than 10 years I ended up moving from the Greater Toronto Area to Vancouver and the west coast of Canada where concrete pools dominate the market. It was here when I started to learn about concrete pool construction that I really began to find my footing as a pool and spa specialist. The west coast of Canada is well known for producing some of the best pilots in the world. I suspect that the same can be said for pool builders. The scope of work, average customer budget, environmental challenges and property values on the west coast make for a rigorous training ground to say the least. When I returned home to Ontario over a decade later my skill set had increased by orders of magnitude over what it was when I had left. Unfortunately so had the damage to my body from the wear and tear over these grueling years.

Back in Ontario I worked briefly in swimming pool equipment manufacturing as well as pool equipment wholesale before finding my true voice with the Swimming Pool Steve Blog. My experiences with manufacturing and wholesale distribution, combined with my lifelong journey working on pools across Canada provided me with a unique perspective to the industry as a whole. Through the Swimming Pool Steve brand and platform I am now able to accomplish something that was the bane of my existence throughout my career - how to do things properly.

Why You Should Vote For Swimming Pool Steve

I am old enough that when I started in this industry there were no cell phones, internet forums, online resources or ANY way of finding out information about swimming pools and spas. If I had a question about something I saw, or something that I was working on, but nobody working on the job had the answer...well, you just didn't get to know that thing and life moved on. People starting in the industry today have no idea what this was like. There was no instruction manual, no established standards, congruency of construction process - nothing! You were only as good as your personal experiences and your ability to learn from those around you.

I have the personality type that wants answers. I want to know how things work. My father is a mechanical genius and while motors and machinery are not my thing, I certainly borrow from this technical affinity and apply it to my craft of pools and spas. For over 25 years I have been asking questions and seeking out information and answers from others about pools and spas and it was not always easy to get the answers that I wanted. Most of the concrete workers that I learned from were old, and tired, and spoke english as a second language. In order to get enough respect from these men to have them devote time to training me, I had to work hard enough to take years off of my life. Also many lessons that I learned along the way were of the "hard" variety. Knowing how to do something directly translates to income earning marketable skills and as such many pool industry workers are not inclined to share their hard-earned secrets. Much of what I had to learn was accomplished through trial and error.

Through the Swimming Pool Steve blog I now work daily to change the industry from the one that I grew up in. I write about technical challenges and questions that relate to pools and spas in an attempt to set a standard for quality and quality educational resources.

Since 2015 my videos and articles about pools and spas have been viewed by over five million people (and currently on track to double this number before the end of next year) and this does not count the reach from the 25+ magazine and newspaper articles I have had published during this time.

In addition to helping pool and spa owners to learn and understand more about their pools, I also help other pool and spa professionals fast-track their way to success by sharing my experiences. I can't begin to tell you how much I would have appreciated having access to information like this - technical standards about in-depth pool and spa specific problems when I was young in this industry.

My hope is that I can build and leave a legacy as someone who impacted the pool and spa industry as a whole in a positive way and in a way I feel as though I already have accomplished this. Through my blog and online readership I have reached more people, answered more questions, and impacted the pool industry more than I ever could have dreamed. Winning the 2018 Pleatco Perfect Pool Guy award would be an amazing cherry-on-top of a highly rewarding experience after dedicating my life to learning about pools and spas and sharing this information with others. Thank you for your consideration.

How To Vote For Steve - In order to vote for Steve you will need to visit the Pleatco website and fill out their contest entry form. As part of completing this form you will be asked to fill out some basic information about yourself as well as about Steve. Here is all of the information that you will need to have:

You will also be asked to fill out your name and email address information to help prevent fraudulent entries or vote manipulation. You do not need to upload a picture of me as they already have one. You will also be asked why I should win the Perfect Pool Guy Award which you can enter a personal message or simply state that you enjoy learning about pools from me. Thank you to everyone who reads my blog and especially those that take a moment to vote for me. It would mean a great deal to win this prestigious award and validate the blood, sweat and tears that I have put into this industry.